2 minute read For a while it seemed as if no-one would make it all the way – even if it had felt inevitable that several of them would get halfway. Trott was out for 59, Cook for 76 and then Ballance for 77. They were creeping closer and it was Root who
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Shuffling bread
2 minute read Have we all made realistic New Year’s resolutions? No more drinking on Wednesdays? One takeaway a week, but you won’t deliberately order enough for breakfast the next morning as well? Or maybe you’ve resolved to stop playing Australia quite so frequently. Vivisection’s tempting, but let’s not reach for the scalpel
Continue readingDavid Warner punching Joe Root – the real reason why it was such a despicable incident
< 1 minute read They were in a Walkabout. Of all the pubs in Birmingham, David Warner and Joe Root opted to go to an Australian-themed bar which uses the slogan: “Home of the awesome spirit of Australia.” This makes Warner look like a homesick child, desperately clinging to anything even faintly Antipodean, while
Continue readingJoe Root and canned excitement
< 1 minute read There’s no excitement quite so depressing as mandatory excitement. Compare and contrast the following. Joe Root strides to the crease and a large crowd rumbles with enthusiasm A batsman strides to the crease and Somebody Told Me by The Killers plays Joe Root takes a quick single and a large,
Continue readingRounded flat cap cricket
2 minute read If you like certainty and clarity, two-innings cricket is not for you. The format presents you with details and only backs this up with context once the match has finished. Half the joy is in dissecting goings-on in order to try and shape that context in your mind’s eye as
Continue readingNick Compton, fridges and freezers
2 minute read One of the weirdest send-offs of all time was when Steve Kirby, then playing for Yorkshire, sent Mike Atherton on his way with the immortal line: “I’ve seen better batters in my fridge.” This article is nothing to do with that, even though it is about keeping batsmen in the
Continue readingJoe Root seems okay
< 1 minute read Most people seem to be saying ‘Joe Root is amazing’ but we’ll take it down a few notches from there. We’re still forming an opinion. There’s no rush. The story so far seems to have followed this course: He looks an excellent stodgy blocker Wait, he can score quick runs
Continue readingJoe Root shouldn’t play England’s second warm-up match
< 1 minute read Not unless he’s down the order. Some have suggested resting Alastair Cook because he made a hundred in the first warm-up match and so presumably doesn’t need the practice. Being as Nick Compton made a duck, it is felt that England might now want to see how Joe Root fares
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